Gaining a Greater Appreciation for Life

Heather Green was riding the crest of a wave in 2020, until suddenly, with no apparent warning her life took a horribly dark turn. 

That September 22, two weeks after her 40th birthday, the bartender at CJ’s on the Bay, found a painful lump on her breast, one large enough that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t felt it before. A doctor’s exam a few days later was followed by MRIs, mammograms and biopsies, and ultimately, a diagnosis of breast cancer on October 11 of that year. 

“I was on top of the world,” said Green, looking back to that time. “I loved my job at CJ’s. I’d been working there for about a month-and-a-half, maybe. I was in a really, really good place. It was a shock. It was an absolute shock.” 

Today, the decidedly upbeat Marco Island resident is celebrating her second month of remission after one year of chemotherapy, including one form that caused not just her hair to fall out temporarily, but her toenails and fingernails too. 

Green said she was initially incensed, rather than fearful, when she was first diagnosed. 

“I was super, super angry. I’d seen people go through it and I didn’t want to,” she recalled with a chuckle. “I knew what it entailed and it wasn’t just about the chemo and the loss of hair and the throwing up. I remember saying to the doctor, ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this’ you know?”

But she soon realized there was no alternative but to accept her new reality and to embrace the treatment process. Green said her support system played a key role in enabling her to handle the challenge. Chief among those supporters were her parents, James and Kathleen Green, of Marco, as well as CJ’s owners Curt and Jacquie Koon, and Laura Owen, the restaurant’s general manager.

“All three of them are a Godsend,” said Green. “Jacquie and Curt stepped up and paid my insurance during the few months I wasn’t able to work during chemotherapy. Chef Laura set up a GoFundMe page so that I could pay my $3,000 deductible. I mean, everybody at CJ’s, I got unbelievable support from them.

She also praised the backing of her boyfriend, Casey Swabik, who still lives in Westfield, New York, her hometown. 

“I was really lucky. I had my mother going to every single one of my appointments,” said Green. “I can’t see how someone could go through it alone. With her there, I had somebody I was able to talk to about it. I was able to cry and yell and swear, get that out of my system, and bounce things back and forth with her.”

At present, Green is dealing with another malady, severe vertigo, a sensation of whirling and loss of balance, one of several medical “issues,” as she described them, which have cropped up in the wake of her cancer treatments. 

“I feel like going through treatment was easier than post-treatment,” she said. “I’m having all these residual issues that we’re trying to get figured out. The vertigo is probably the worst. It puts you down. It puts you absolutely straight down.” 

The vertigo has left her unable to work, a situation that has strained her finances to the point she’s without insurance and she’s had to seek help for paying her bills, including those for necessary medical treatments. It’s a dilemma that has resulted in her having to cancel the mammograms and MRI’s that are required periodically. 

As a result, she’s turned to the federal government for help, but Green is awaiting word on whether that financial assistance will be forthcoming. Fortunately, she has been able to receive help from the Naples-based nonprofit Bosom Buddies Cancer Support, which is dedicated to aiding women with breast cancer. Green said the organization paid her September rent, electric and medical bills. 

“They’re a Godsend and it’s going to be my goal to put Bosom Buddies posters everywhere I can so that people know where to donate,” she added. “It’s a wonderful organization. They put their money where their mouth is for cancer patients who are struggling.”

When asked whether experiencing cancer and cancer treatment had changed her, she said the impact has been all-encompassing. 

“Everything is intensified,” said Green. “You’re happier when you’re happy. You’re sadder when you’re sad. What you feel, you feel harder. My outlook on life is different. You appreciate everything so much more. The sky looks bluer. I don’t know what it is. You just notice stuff more. It’s still kind of new. I think I’m still trying to figure it out.”

For more information about Bosom Buddies Cancer Support, visit bbbcsi.org/ or call 239-417-4600.